Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 4852 Slave Trade
"You are also from the royal family, you are extremely noble, I am so sorry for your disrespect."

Abu Awal changed his cold face and smiled. He even took Jin Renwen's hand and sat in the main seat, showing great hospitality.

Jin Ren asked: "..."

How could the Jin royal family have such a prominent status that the governor of the Arab Empire could treat them with courtesy and respect?
Or is it that Fang Jun's reputation is too great and has already overwhelmed the Arab Empire?

While drinking grape wine, Jin Renwen said with a smile: "Your Excellency the Governor, you don't have to be so polite. I came here today to discuss the slave trade. Let's settle the matter first. I will definitely accompany the Governor to get drunk. How do you think?"

"It's just slave trade, a trivial matter. It's your honor to be here, a member of the royal family of Silla. Haha, don't be anxious, please allow me to show my hospitality!"

Abu Awal clapped his hands, and more than ten Persian women dressed in gauze, with gauze covering their faces, slender figures, slim waists and bare feet came in. Then the music started, and more than ten Persian dancers danced gracefully, with graceful postures and charming dance moves. With every move, the gauze clothes with intricate patterns on their bodies fluttered, revealing their jade arms and legs, and their crystal-clear skin as white as snow was glowing...

Abu Awal's eyes widened when he saw Jin Renwen, and he patted his shoulder with a smile: "Like it? Then I'll give you a few when you leave! I don't have much else here, but there are a lot of Persian dancers like these. There are even a few princesses from small Persian tribes here, which just match your status, haha!"

Jin Ren rolled his eyes, sat up straight, and smiled reservedly, "Governor, please feel free to say anything. I will definitely help if I can. Even if I can't help, I can still give you some advice. I am really overwhelmed by your enthusiasm."

He was not so foolish as to rely on his status as a descendant of the Silla royal family or a relative of Fang Jun to run rampant in the Arab world and make the governor of a province bow down to him. If he could not understand what Abu Awal wanted, he would not dare to drink or play, for fear that the other party would set up a "honey trap" and use it to threaten him.

After all, this is the territory of the Arab Empire. If Abu Awal really wants to harm me, I can't stand it...

Abu Awal and Busr exchanged a glance. The latter coughed dryly and whispered, "The Arabs suffered a great defeat in this battle. The governor is in a difficult situation. I'm sure you have heard about this, too?"

Jin Renwen nodded and said, "It's all a misunderstanding. If the misunderstanding could have been cleared up earlier, why would such a hurtful thing have happened? We are all people of status. Fighting and killing is really unbecoming. We should all get together and discuss how to make money and how to get promoted."

"Well said. We are not officials to risk our lives. We should always think about getting promoted and making money... But now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more. We should think about how to make amends. Once the news of the defeat reaches Damascus, the Caliph will be furious. The governor is in danger and should save himself."

Jin Ren asked with a blink, thinking it had something to do with him: "How to save yourself?"

Buser poured him a glass of wine and said, "The Tang army's firearms in this battle were extremely powerful and could destroy the world. If we could get the formula for gunpowder..."

Before he finished speaking, Jin Renwen's head was shaking like a rattle: "Just give up on this idea, it's impossible!"

Buser said hurriedly: "The Governor can pay 100,000 gold coins..."

“It’s not about the money!”

Jin Ren asked, "The formula of gunpowder is a top secret in the Tang Dynasty. Let's put it this way. Even if you know what color underwear the emperor is wearing today, you can never know the formula of gunpowder. Gunpowder was invented by the Duke of Yue and has been continuously improved. It is manufactured in the foundry, but do you know how strict the foundry's security is? The craftsmen who participated in the manufacture of gunpowder were not allowed to step out of the foundry for the rest of their lives, and they were not allowed to talk to others. They had to be buried in the foundry after they died!"

Buser was speechless. He did not think Jin Renwen was exaggerating. With such a powerful weapon, it would not be excessive to have strict guards. However, if this happened, the governor's ambition would be extinguished before it even began...

Abu Awal was unwilling to give up. "Is there really no other way? Money is definitely not a problem. If you are worried about being punished by the Tang Dynasty, you can come to the Arab Empire. With my status, it won't be a problem for me to recommend a lord."

Jin Renwen still shook his head: "This is indeed impossible. Even if you go into the foundry, you can't get the formula. Even if you get the formula, you can't walk out of the foundry... But if you just want to get the firearm, there are other ways."

"any solution?"

Abu Awal's eyes lit up.

Jin Ren asked, "You just want to make a contribution to the Caliph to offset the guilt of the defeat. In fact, it doesn't really require the formula of gunpowder. I wonder if I can get some 'Sky-shaking Bombs' for the Governor, will the effect be similar?"

"Thunderbolt?"

"It's the kind of iron lump wrapped in cast iron and filled with gunpowder. After it's ignited and thrown into the enemy's formation, it explodes and kills the enemy with shrapnel..."

"You can get this?!"

Abu Awal's eyes widened. In his opinion, the power of the "thunder bomb" was much stronger than the musket, second only to the cannon.

Moreover, if they could get the "thunder bomb" and disassemble it, they would get gunpowder. With so many skilled craftsmen and eccentrics in the Arab Empire, couldn't they deduce the formula of gunpowder?
It's just a little more complicated than getting the gunpowder formula directly!

Jin Ren asked proudly: "Of course!"

Abu Awal grabbed Jin Renwen's hand and said sincerely, "If you can help me get the 'Sky-shaking Bomb' and keep my position as governor, then you will be my second parent. You can walk sideways in Shiraf Port from now on! In addition, just tell me how many gold coins you need!"

"Who wants your gold coins?"

Jin Renwen shook his head and said, "I definitely can't get this thing. I must go find the nobles in the navy. But how can those people risk violating military regulations just for your money? They have plenty of money!"

Buser nodded in agreement: "Governor, you don't know that the aristocratic families in the Tang Dynasty have been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years. They have thousands of acres of fertile land and servants. The millet in the granary is almost moldy and can't be eaten. The ropes for stringing copper coins in the warehouse are rotten and can't be spent at all..."

"No money? They must be asking for something, so tell me, what can I give you?"

Jin Renwen thought for a moment and said, "I want the exclusive rights to operate bamboo paper in Shiluofu Port! In addition, the price of 'Sky-shaking Bombs' must be ten gold coins per piece!"

"Bamboo paper?"

Abu Awal was somewhat puzzled. He certainly did not think that an "exclusive right to operate bamboo paper" would exempt him from having to pay for the "Sky Bomb", but he did not know why the other party asked for this.

The bamboo paper produced in the Tang Dynasty was very popular in the Caliphate, because the Caliphate did not know how to make paper and could only write on sheepskin, which was expensive and clumsy. Since the bamboo paper of the Tang Dynasty was exported to the Caliphate, it immediately became popular, especially among scholars and priests.

However, paper is easily affected by moisture, and it was common for merchant ships to encounter heavy rains on their way across the ocean from the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, transporting paper was extremely difficult. Often, less than one-tenth of a shipload of paper could be used when it arrived in the Arab Empire. This not only made paper expensive, but also made merchants unwilling to sell it because of the low profits. A shipload of porcelain or silk could bring five or even ten times the profit. Who would be willing to sell paper?
Therefore, the scale of the entire Shiluofu Port Bamboo Paper was extremely limited, and he immediately agreed: "Absolutely no problem!"

Jin Renwen suppressed his excitement: "Words are not enough!"

Abu Awal laughed: "Let's write it down as proof!"

"it is good!"

Buser quickly brought out paper and pen, and the two parties signed a contract for the exclusive operating rights of bamboo paper in duplicate, signed and sealed it respectively, and also stamped it with the official seal of the Governor's Office of Shilov Port.

Jin Renwen grinned happily. Not only had he negotiated the slave trade, which enabled him to establish a good business relationship with the aristocratic families of the Tang Dynasty, but he also got the unexpected surprise of the exclusive rights to bamboo paper. It was a great harvest.

As far as he knew, the navy was about to retire a batch of old warships. Although these warships did not have the same high performance as new ships, they were larger, stronger and more stable when encountering wind and waves than merchant ships. He had already ordered more than a dozen ships from the navy through Jin Shengman's relationship. The cabins of these warships had good drainage performance.

In addition, a substance called "asphalt" was recently discovered in Longmen Mountain in Shu. The oilcloth made from it has excellent waterproof properties, and can almost completely prevent bamboo paper from getting wet when used to wrap it. He had long intended to develop channels for selling bamboo paper.

Today, by chance, we have opened up trade routes to most of the Arab Empire and the former Persian land...

Both parties got what they wanted and were very excited.

*****
"Ten gold coins for each 'Sky-shaking Bomb'?!"

When Buyeo Long heard what Jin Renwen said, he was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out.

Although the "Sky-Thunder Bomb" is extremely powerful and lethal, as the production technology at the Foundry continues to improve and the craftsmen become more skilled, the cost continues to be reduced and the output continues to increase, it is simply inexhaustible.

As for whether selling "Sky-shaking Bombs" would violate naval rules, there is no need to worry about it at all. The Japanese, Silla people, Luzon people, and even Hussein who wandered in the mountains south of Mecca had all obtained the "Sky-shaking Bombs" of the Tang Dynasty through various channels.

It is wishful thinking to want to dismantle the "Thunderbolt" to imitate the gunpowder technology. Nowadays, all kinds of useful or even useless things are added to the granular gunpowder. It is impossible for anyone to "reverse-calculate" the gunpowder composition...

“This is a good deal!”

He had nothing to do with slave trade, but he was very envious of the exclusive rights to bamboo paper. However, Jin Renwen was able to maintain private trade with the aristocratic families with the help of the navy because he was connected to Fang Jun, and Yang Zhou would never dare to interfere...